A man is missing and 150 people have been rescued from the surf over the weekend as cyclonic swell lashes the NSW coastline.
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Surf Life Saving NSW rescued 15 people in a single incident after the group ran into trouble in dangerous waves at Broulee on the state's south coast on Sunday.
In Sydney, lifeguards from Manly picked up two people as their boat capsized and sank on Sunday, according to the Westpac Rescue Helicopter.
At North Cronulla another 10 people were saved and, across NSW, numerous people received suspected spinal injuries from the waves.
Meanwhile, the search for a man, swept out to sea while swimming with a group of people at a Nambucca beach on the NSW mid-north coast on Saturday afternoon, will be postponed overnight.
Police say the 22-year-old was caught in a rip.
The search will resume on Monday morning but the rough conditions are making the search difficult.
The horror weekend comes as Tropical Cyclone Gita - which damaged parts of southern Fiji - moves south, bringing massive waves and winds to Australia's east coast.
Authorities warned swimmers and surfers to stick to patrolled beaches and rock fishers to avoid the water throughout the weekend.
Surf Life Saving NSW, on Sunday night, extended the warning for a further 48 hours.
"Conditions will be particularly bad in the north of the state," a spokesman told AAP.
"We're expecting waves up to four metres, conditions are expected to ease briefly then pick back up."
Swimmers have been warned to stick to patrolled beaches and use common sense in the water.
The Bureau of Meteorology's hazardous surf warning for Monday covers almost the entirety of the NSW coast - from Byron to Sydney to Eden.
Australian Associated Press